The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for constructing a temporary parking lot on a land area.
The transportation industry often requires additional parking areas for temporary vehicle storage prior to vehicle transfer and/or distribution. Such parking areas are typically needed adjacent rail yards and automotive production facilities. These additional parking areas are frequently only needed for a relatively short period of time, such as two or three months. Hence, it is desirable to minimize the time and expenses associated with constructing the additional parking areas.
Traditionally parking lots are constructed by covering a land area with concrete or asphalt. These traditional construction methods provide a desirable hard surface for vehicles to be driven on, but are time-consuming and expensive. Further, covering the land area with concrete or asphalt can create complications in the project, such as having to construct a retention pond to deal with excess rain water.
Other less permanent methods for constructing parking lots are also known. These other methods include covering a land area with gravel, wood chips, or shredded rubber from recycled tires. These non-traditional methods reduce the time and expenses associated with constructing the parking areas. However, these methods do not provide the desired parking surface, and can lead to the vehicles being damaged. Such vehicle damage can range from scratches in a vehicle""s paint to extensive body damage caused by vehicles sliding into one another when excessive rain washes away the gravel, wood chips, or shredded rubber, and turns at least a portion of the parking area into a mud pit.
The present invention is a method of constructing a temporary vehicle parking lot on a land area. The method comprises the steps of: providing a composite drainage material through which water drains; and covering the land area with the composite drainage material so that the land area is underneath the composite drainage material. The composite drainage material comprises a polymeric open mesh core between first and second layers of a non-woven geo-textile fabric. One of the first and second layers contacts the land area. The other of the first and second layers faces away from the land area and provides a surface on which vehicles may be parked. The composite drainage material directs water which contacts the other layer through the first and second layers, through the polymeric core between the layers, and into the land area covered by the composite drainage material.
The step of covering the land area includes the step of staking the composite drainage material to the land area. The step of covering the land area further includes the steps of: placing rolls of the composite drainage material adjacent one another; unrolling the rolls of the composite drainage material so that longitudinal edges of adjacent rolls adjoin one another; and joining the longitudinal edges of adjacent rolls to create a continuous surface of the composite drainage material.
The present invention further provides an apparatus for constructing a temporary vehicle parking lot on a land area. The apparatus comprises a composite drainage material through which water drains. The composite drainage material comprises a polymeric open mesh core between first and second layers of a non-woven geo-textile fabric. The composite drainage material is adapted to cover the land area so that the land area is underneath the composite drainage material. One of the first and second layers contacts the land area. The other of the first and second layers faces away from the land area and comprises a surface on which vehicles may be parked. The composite drainage material directs water which contacts the other layer through the first and second layers, through the polymeric core between the layers, and into the land area covered by the composite drainage material.